VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese have been warned about potential risks of free wi-fi at high-end hotels after the Hyatt hotel in HCM City in Da Nang was attacked by malware.

The luxury hotel chain Hyatt has announced nearly half of its hotels worldwide were infected with malware last year and guests’ data might have been stolen.

The luxury hotel chain Hyatt has announced nearly half of its hotels worldwide were infected with malware last year and guests’ data might have been stolen. 

Of the 318 hotels attacked by malware, two are in Vietnam – Park Hyatt Saigon in HCM City and Hyatt Regency Da Nang Resort & Spa in Da Nang City.

The malware was designed to steal information from clients’ payment cards, including cardholders’ names, card numbers, expiry dates and CVV (card verification value). The information was stolen directly from Hyatt’s payment system.

Hyatt’s President Chuck Floyd said that Hyatt has solutions to ensure guests’ information security and that he regretted the inconvenience.

Vietnamese have been warned about potential risks of free wi-fi at high-end hotels after the Hyatt hotel in HCM City in Da Nang was attacked by malware.

A representative of the Hyatt chain said though guests can feel secure to continue using cards for making payment at Hyatt, any payment in card at the hotel chain during the time might have information stolen. 

He promised the hotel chain was working with involved parties to settle the problem to the every root.

Nguyen Hong Son from Bach Khoa Antivirus (BKAV), the Vietnamese leading internet security firm, said users should be wary of free wi-fi provided at luxury hotels. 

According to Son, some hotels equip their wi-fi systems with login pages where the service providers’ names or wi-fi systems’ names are displayed. When accessing the hotels’ free wi-fi systems, users are provided IP addresses to use the services.

For the first use, internet services will be directed to the login pages. After several operations, users will be granted the right to access internet for their devices.

The systems support hotels’ network operators, allowing them to control and regulate the use of wi-fi. Some measures can also be applied to ensure information security for wi-fi users. 

However, Son said that most of the hotels in Vietnam only provide free wi-fi to satisfy the users’ demand and do not pay appropriate attention to the solutions to protect guests’ information. 

Mikhail Volkov, a security expert from Kaspersky, said that the risk of information insecurity at the hotels in Asia Pacific, including Vietnam, was relatively high.

He said through forged sign-up pages, hackers can steal personal information and install malware on users’ devices. 

This allows them to know about their action plans, from the hotel room numbers to conference rooms and the details of working sessions at hotels.

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